SIX SIGMA SUCCESS STORIES PLUS

Reducing waste in the breast trimming department.

Improving efficiency in the cutup department.

Reducing downtime in the weight/price label department.

Low productivity in the wing cutup department.

The issues Perdue managers wanted to address included:

Managers at the Perdue plants in Georgetown and Milford, as well as managers at a plant in Accomac, Va., identified several areas for improvement when they contacted the Delaware Manufacturing Extension Partnership for Six Sigma training.

SIX SIGMA SUCCESS STORIES PLUS

The two plants, plus a distribution center in Georgetown, employ about 2,500 people. Perdue Farms is headquartered in Salisbury, MD., and has two chicken processing plants in Delaware, one in Georgetown and the other in Milford.

Perdue Farms, founded in 1917, is the number one brand of premium fresh chickens in the eastern United States and a food and agricultural company recognized globally for quality, service and reliability. In this industry, “trimming the fat” and “cutting to the bone” aren’t slogans, it’s just taking care of business. In the highly competitive poultry processing industry, profit margins are tight and continued success depends on maximizing efficiency and minimizing mistakes at every step in the process. We’re using fewer hours to process the same amount of product, and we’ve moved workers to other parts of the plant where they’re more needed.” - Rafael Perez, Deboning Manager, Georgetown Processing Plant “We’re saving a quarter of a million dollars a year.

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